Why not?”
“Because your dinosaurs still haven’t improved.”
I laughed despite myself.
That was Noah.
He never made dramatic speeches.
He simply stayed around long enough for whatever hurt to become easier to carry.
When my first boyfriend dumped me three weeks before junior homecoming, Noah showed up with chocolate ice cream.
He sat beside me on the porch while I cried.
After ten minutes of silence, he finally said, “I told you he was an idiot.”
I looked at him through swollen eyes.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I thought it.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“It should.”
I laughed so hard I almost choked.
So when senior prom arrived, there was never much question in my mind about who I wanted beside me.
Apparently, Noah wasn’t quite as certain.
One afternoon in February, he found me at my locker.
“Chrissy.”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember first grade?”
I pretended to think.
“No.”
His
